Intruder in the Dust (1949)

A young boy (Claude Jarman Jr., from The Yearling (1946)) falls into a stream while hunting and is assisted by a proud Black man, and property owner (Juano Hernandez), from whom he feels guilty for taking his charity. When the man is later accused of shooting another in the back, the boy convinces his lawyer uncle (David Brian) to defend him, which he reluctantly does. However, he finds his client to be stubbornly uncooperative, other than proclaiming his innocence. It is then up to the boy, and even an old woman (Elizabeth Patterson), to help solve the case (which involves digging up graves in the middle of the night!) and keep the accused from being lynched. The sensitive Clarence Brown directed this William Faulkner novel, adapted by Ben Maddow (The Asphalt Jungle (1950)) years before Horton Foote won an Oscar for adapting Harper Lee's better known novel, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), for the screen. Will Geer plays the Sheriff, and several other familiar character actors play prominent roles including Porter Hall (as the father of the murdered man), Charles Kemper, David Clarke, and Harry Hayden.

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